TACTICAL KNIVES: NEW ERGONOMIC SETUPS FOR ADEQUATING THEM TO HUNT AND MILITARY PRACTICE

Abstract

This paper presents a reviewed investigation of the aesthetical and functional features of tactical knives, that is, those strategically designed for risk operations, as in the activities of policemen, fire-fighters, rescuers, campers, divers or hunters. These products had their development minimally registered in formal science, as the knowledge about the design and about the evaluation of tactical knives is almost exclusively in the handcraft and industry environments. Companies do not reveal their design processes, and the craftsmen who do it, do not have any way for scientific proof to the achieved results from decades of work: it was a process of trials and mistakes, until they reached quality levels adequate to users. In this project, there is an investigation of possible formal guidelines of ergonomics and usability of tactical knives which could be registered and tested for production of such itens, in the future, searching to scientifically register this research line and its relevance to security industry. Since the time of the realization of this course completion project, in 2012, until the current year, there was no academic production that defined, classified or tried tactical knives, under the vision of any quality analysis discipline.